Ok, so it's not December, but we did try some horchata in Valencia. It's sweet and kind of powdery tasting but pretty good really.
It seems like a long time has passed since I last reported back, but in fact it was just a week ago. We are in Barcelona now - what a fantastic city. I am in love with Gaudi's architecture; it's inspiring and futuristic and fantastical. His buildings are such an asset to this city - more on this next time when we've seen the Sagrada Familia!
Before Barcelona, we spent a few days in Valencia. Valencia is much more mainstream and to us felt less touristy. The city was packed because of the festival, Las Fallas, that was on. Las Fallas, which I posted a little link to in my last post, is a crazy festival. The point of it all is inexplicable to the casual observer - it seems like a lot of fireworks, gun powder and drinking. Apparently though, it's meant to mark the start of spring and to celebrate the city's patron saint, Our Lady of the Forsaken. There are people setting off firecrackers everywhere, and little firecrackers of gun powder that don't sparkle but simply explode with a sharp crack. No one seems to blink at these, despite me getting a fright at every random explosion. The streets sound like I imagine a war zone would sound like, except that they are also filled with huge cartoon statues and flags so it does't look that way at all!
Every day leading up to the burning of the Fallas statues throughout the city, there is a huge gun powder explosion called the mascleta where local neighborhoods compete against each other for the most spectacular gun powder explosion. The explosions last around 15 minutes and shake the earth beneath your feet with their ferocity. You can feel the explosions in your chest and the air vibrates with the sound of the gun powder going off. The air is also thick with smoke for at least the last 5 minutes of the display. People line the streets for several hours beforehand to catch a glimpse of the mascleta. And then there's the fireworks at night - at least 4 nights before the Fallas are burned there are spectacular fireworks at around 1am where the roads are closed nearby and the streets are filled with people. And finally, the Fallas are burned on the final night of the festival. All up, it was a bizarre few days to be honest but really interesting and we got a good glimpse of how beautiful Valencia is.
I've already mentioned that we had a day in Cuenca before Valencia. The old city is built on the edge of a steep ravine heading down to the river. It's home to some famous houses that date back to the 15th century called las cases colgadas, or hanging houses. The most famous of them now houses a fantastic Spanish contemporary art collection. If you're interested in contemporary art, check out the museum
website. The artists are listed in the collections tab - our favorites
were Fernando Zóbel and José Guerrero.
That's it for now. Back in touch soon. Tonight we are off to see Barcelona FC play at Camp Nou!
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| View from the top, Cuenca |
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| Night view from our hotel room, Cuenca |
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| The famous hanging houses |
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| View from the St Paul bridge, Cuenca |
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| Streets of colourful houses, Cuenca |
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| Las Fallas, Valencia |
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| Angela Merkel |
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| Hopefully you can get an idea of how huge these things are from this picture |
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| Rows of gun powder being set up in anticipation of the mascleta |
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| This is a Fallas of a Fallas, if that makes any sense |
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| Spanish staple - chocolate con chorros |
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| Horchata, made with tiger nuts |
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| The Fallas queen and her falleras at the mascleta |
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| Sagrada Familia facade, Barcelona |
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| La Boqueria, Barcelona - allegedly the best market in Spain (and possibly Europe) |
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| Chocolates in la Boqueria |
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| Another excellent Spanish invention |
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| Every possible combination of fruit juice |
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| This one is for my Dad and Don - rows and rows of nougats at la Boqueria |
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| Down at the port, Barcelona |
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| Casa Batllo, Gaudi, Barcelona |
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| At Barri Gòtic |
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| La Catedral, Barri Gòtic, Barcelona |
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| Park Güell, Gaudi, Barcelona |
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| Park Güell |
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| Park Güell |
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| Gaudi, the genius |
